


Angel

by lifeinskinnyjeans



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Loss, Love, M/M, Orphans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-26
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinskinnyjeans/pseuds/lifeinskinnyjeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seventeen-year-old Frank Iero has had a hard childhood since his family was robbed seven years previous, and he was forced to watch the burglar murder his parents and then turn the gun on himself. He now lives with his neglectful aunt and uncle, who already have two children of their own, after being found on the streets two weeks after the robbery and murder. With revenge out of the question, Frank sees no reason to keep living, so he makes a plan to kill himself. With the gun to his head, he meets Gerard Way in a bathroom of the school they both attend. And both Frank and Gerard may not know it, but Gerard is Frank's angel, the boy who saved his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is currently on hiatus.

"Dude! Whoa! What the fuck are you doing??"  
  
I opened one of my clenched hazel eyes to see what was interrupting me. It was a who, not a what, in fact, a boy, and he was actually quite handsome, just standing there looking at me. The confusion and maybe a bit of anger was very evident on his face.  
  
But then I realized my silence only made the fact that I was holding a gun to my head in a school bathroom even more awkward.  
  
I clenched my open eye shut again and put my finger on the trigger. "Dude! Is that gun pressed against your ear or something?? I asked you what the fuck you're doing!" the boy yelled.  
  
I opened both eyes this time and unexpectedly saw the boy standing directly in front of me. Since he was at least four inches taller than me (I've yet to find someone of my height or shorter), I had to look up to see his green eyes staring back at my hazel ones. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I muttered.  
  
"Doing something fucking stupid that you can never take back," the boy said. I blinked, but didn't break my stare and didn't take the gun away from my head. He raised his eyebrows at me and I just continued to stare into his green eyes, hoping he could even _begin_ to understand my situation. "Things can't be _that_ bad, dude," he added.  
  
My stare hardened. "You have no idea...." I growled, closing my eyes and repositioning my finger on the trigger. I clicked the safety as a warning to the boy.  
  
"Well, if you want to kill yourself, I guess that's a personal problem," the boy said stepping back. "I just came to use the john anyway, not to try and stop some kid from killing himself." And with that sentiment, he did what he just said he had come here to do, washed his hands, and left me with my gun and my thoughts. (Actually, it was my cousin's gun, but I knew he kept it under all his shit piled in his closet, he had shown it to me before, and a fifteen-year-old doesn't need a gun anyway, so I figured I might as well take it for what I needed it for. And I wouldn't have to deal with any of his shit, or anyone's, after this, so it's all the better.)  
  
But he came back. The boy with the beautiful green eyes and the bright red hair that just brushed his shoulders poked his head back into the bathroom like he was checking to see if I had actually pulled the trigger (as if he wouldn't have heard the shot go off). Worry now replaced confusion and the bit of anger that was on his face when he came in here in the beginning. "There's gonna be a lot of people that are gonna miss you if you go through with this, dude," he said.  
  
"How do you know that?" I snapped at him. "I'm just some kid with a gun to his head that you walked in on in the bathroom."  
  
"No one has no one that will miss then," the boy said.  
  
"Name one person that will shed one tear if I kill myself," I said bitterly, staring down the boy with the most intense gaze I could muster.  
  
"Friends?"  
  
"Anyone I know here will be happy I'm dead."  
  
"Family?"  
  
"My aunt and uncle think I'm waste of space, and my cousins share that belief."  
  
"What about the rest of your family? Your other aunts and uncles, your grandparents, your parents, dude! What about your parents?"  
  
"I've never met the rest of my family," I said quietly, looking away to the wall. "My parents never got on with their families because both of their families despised my parents' marriage." Why did I feel like I needed to explain myself to this kid?  
  
"What about your parents?" the boy repeated.  
  
I took a deep breath before speaking. "They're dead," I deadpanned. I closed my eyes and was actually about to pull the trigger, but I felt the boy's hand on my shoulder, sending tingles down my arm. I opened my eyes again and looked up at the boy, his green eyes boring into my hazel ones, pleading with me to not pull the trigger and take the gun away from my head.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, and squeezed my shoulder, sending another wave of tingles down my arm. God, the more I kept looking at this boy this close, the more attractive he became to me. "But you can't off yourself here, man."  
  
I got a little angry. "Why not?" I demanded.  
  
"It's the middle of the period right after lunch. The teachers are right in the middle of their teaching, and the students are probably-"  
  
I cut him off. "I couldn't give two fucks about disturbing anyone," I spat.  
  
"You didn't lemme finish," the boy said, annoyed. "I was going to say that everything is quiet, so everyone would hear that gunshot go off."  
  
"And?" I urged.  
  
"Judging by the fact that you're in the bathroom and not the hallway or something, you don't want to draw any attention to yourself."  
  
"And?" I repeated, not understanding what the boy was trying to get at.  
  
The boy sighed. "The school is quiet. Your gun is loud. Shoot yourself in here and all the classes and teachers will come running to see what the commotion was," he explained condescendingly.  
  
"Alright, alright!" I said hurriedly, not wanting to hear more of the boy's reasoning.  
  
I finally took the barrel of the gun away from my head and rubbed the spot where I had it pressed up against after setting the gun in the sink next to me. The boy smiled for a split-second before taking the ammunition out, running it under the faucet, wrapping it up in some paper towels, and throwing it away. I looked at him, confused, and he chuckled. "I was in your shoes once, so I know how a gun works," he said. I raised my eyebrows. "A long story, as I assume yours is as well." The boy smiled again.  
  
 _I'd like to hear your story sometime_ , I thought. (I still don't know why I didn't say that out loud.)  
  
The boy had one of those contagious smiles, one of those smiles that you just can't help and smile back at. I returned his smile with a small smirk. "Thank you," I said quietly.  
  
The boy just smiled wider and stuck out his hand. I smiled shyly at him and shook his outstretched hand, wanting to give him a huge hug (for he has no idea the magnitude of what he has just done for me), but not wanting to be too forward. "You're welcome." When he let go of my hand, he said, "Oh, and by the way, I'm Gerard."  
  
"Frank," I said.  
  
"Are you gonna be okay, Frank? I'm not gonna find you here next week, am I?" Gerard joked, smiling and looking at me, a hand on my shoulder, sending a third wave of tingles down my arm.  
  
I chuckled. "No, I don't think you will."  
  
"You don't _think_?"  
  
"Okay, okay, no, you won't find me here next week," I said more confidently.  
  
Gerard had a satisfied, but also genuinely happy, smile on his face and walked around behind me, putting a hand in between my shoulder blades. His touch sent tingles down my spine this time, but I was able to make an effort to cover the resulting shiver. He started to lead me, or really push me, out of the bathroom and into the hallway. "How long were you in there?" he asked.  
  
"I didn't return to class after lunch," I answered.  
  
"What lunch do you have?"  
  
"First."  
  
"So do I."  
  
"I don't know why I haven't seen your bright red hair in there before," I joked.  
  
Gerard chuckled and pulled a piece of his hair into his field of vision, smiling at it. "I guess this is kinda hard to miss, huh?"  
  
I chuckled. "Yeah, a little bit."  
  
Gerard and I had been just wandering the halls because we agreed we didn't want to return to class, and turned a corner and almost literally ran into a teacher. Luckily, I didn't recognize her, and I was hoping that Gerard didn't either. "And what are you two boys doing out in the halls?" she asked brusquely.  
  
Gerard opened his mouth before I could. "I'm just taking my friend Frank to the guidance office," he answered, putting his arm around me shoulder. I was glad he couldn't see me blush.  
  
"The guidance office? What for?" she asked. Shit. I was going to be very impressed if Gerard could get us out of this one. At least we had the (small) advantage of being total strangers.  
  
"Well, some kids were bullying him because he didn't understand something, so he asked to go to the bathroom, but he didn't come back, so I asked to go check on him, and I heard him crying in one of the stalls. I calmed him down, told our teacher I was taking Frank to the guidance office, and here we are," Gerard explained.  
  
Holy shit. I had to make an effort to keep my mouth shut. If the teacher didn't believe that, then she had to be fucking paranoid or something, because that was an amazing lie.  
  
The teacher gave me a look of sympathy before she patted Gerard on the shoulder and said, "How nice of you," and walked away.  
  
Once she was both out of earshot and out of sight, we both heaved sighs of relief, and Gerard took his arm back from around my shoulder. "Thanks for saving our asses, man, but you made me sound like a fucking pussy," I said to Gerard.  
  
He laughed. "You're welcome and I'm sorry. It was the first thing I thought of, and I couldn't just change the story in the middle without it being obvious that I was bullshitting."  
  
I smiled. "It's okay, dude, I understand. I thought it was pretty awesome how you just improvised a whole, like, story and she believed it!"  
  
Gerard grinned triumphantly, making us both laugh. "Thanks, Frank." I thanked my blond-streaked black hair for covering my right eye and the right side of my face so Gerard couldn't see me blush again when he said my name. Not to mention I was standing on his left side, so that made my hair even more useful.  
  
"You're welcome," I muttered shyly.  
  
"Oh, shit, last class is almost over. Where'd you leave all your stuff?" Gerard asked, looking down and over at me.  
  
"Back in the bathroom," I answered.  
  
Gerard nodded. "I'll walk you back to the bathroom, 'cause, you know, you were pretty close to killing yourself in there, but then I'll go get my stuff, I guess." He paused. "It's cool if you come with me, 'cause there's five minutes left."  
  
I nodded and we turned around, heading back to the bathroom where I almost killed myself. We didn't talk much on the way, the memory of my near-death experience still fresh.  
  
When we got to the bathroom, I felt Gerard's eyes on me as I collected my things and left, not even giving the gun in the sink a second glance. (My cousin can give me shit for it later.) Gerard smiled and patted my shoulder, sending yet more tingles down my arm. And I couldn't help but notice that he kept his hand on my shoulder all the way to his classroom. My blush started out light pink, but then flushed a deep red when the bell rang and Gerard went into the classroom to gather his belongings.  
  
When he came back out, he smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. How could I not with such a contagious smile like his? Gerard inclined his head at the hordes of students leaving, silently asking me if we wanted to leave. I nodded and we joined the hordes in their mass exodus out of the building. We didn't bother to even _try_ to speak to each other over the noise level of every other conversation, only communicating by smiles and laughs at those conversations.  
  
When we finally got outside to the bus parking lot, we stopped and smiled at each other. "I can't thank you enough for what you did for me today, Gerard. I'd probably would have pulled that trigger if you hadn't walked in," I said awkwardly, sticking one hand out and putting the other on the back of my tattooed neck, letting my hair fall over my face again.  
  
Gerard chuckled and firmly shook my outstretched hand. "You're welcome, Frank. Everyone deserves a second chance. Come find me at lunch tomorrow. I'm not too hard to miss," he said, pulling at his bright red hair again.  
  
I smiled. "Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow, then," I said.  
  
"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Gerard smiled back at me and waved, turning away.  
  
I waved back, and started walking to the place I had to call home until Halloween this year. It was only February, though, and Halloween is in October. I sighed as I remembered this crossing the street to the field behind the house.


	2. Two.

As soon as I turned the corner into the field behind the house, the skies opened up and it started pouring down rain, big fat drops that soaked you in seconds. I was shivering in about a minute, already soaked through to my skin. _Fuck_ , I thought. This is perfect. Not only am I gonna get shit for jacking my cousin's gun, I'm also gonna get shit from my aunt about being wet because the whole family doesn't give a fuck about what happens outside their little bubbles of their perfect fucking lives.  
  
As I stepped up to the back door, I was shivering uncontrollably from the ten minute walk home in the pouring rain, my teeth chattering uncontrollably as they had been for the past three or four minutes. I knew I had a big chance of getting sick, thanks to my shitty immune system that I swear has seen almost every strain of the rhinovirus known to man. The only things I was looking forward to were dry clothes and a hot shower.  
  
Not that I could get upstairs without running into someone. Today, that someone was my younger cousin, which was actually a miracle for me, because I was expecting my aunt or my older cousin, the one I had stolen the gun from. "Holy shit, Frank, what the hell happened to you? Someone throw you in a pool? He held back a snicker.  
  
"Shut up, Garrett, it's fucking pouring outside and I have to walk home," I snapped, pushing past him and walking up the stairs.  
  
"Well, _someone_ is pissy this afternoon!" Garrett called after me as I thumped up the stairs. I just rolled my eyes and shut them briefly, sighing, as I entered the guest bedroom, which had turned, into my bedroom when I arrived on the doorstep of this shit hole.  
  
I dropped my soaking wet backpack in the corner with a loud thunk and peeled off my wet hoodie, hanging it on the edge of my door to dry. I untied my Converse sneakers and shook them off to the right of my dresser. I laid out some dry clothes on the edge of my bed and walked around the corner into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I turned on the shower and briefly ran my fingers under the faucet. Freezing, of course, so I turned the knob to hot and began to undress as I waited for the water to warm up.  
  
I peeled off the rest of my soaked clothes piece by piece, seeming to feel colder and colder with each article I took off, and dropping each article in a pile in front of the toilet. Testing the water again, it was scalding hot, making me jerk my hand in surprise. I swore under my breath as I quickly turned the temperature down. I waited an extra few seconds and then tested the water for a third time, stepping in and pulling the curtain closed behind me.  
  
I let out a loud sigh of relief as the hot jets of water cascaded down the surfaces of my freezing body. I turned my face up into the stream of water and ran the palms of my hands along the buzzed sides of my mohawk. I turned my face away from the water, wiped the water from my eyes and ran a hand through the black hair that draped over the one side of my face, combing it through with my fingers. I just stood a moment under the hot water, letting it warm me up from the inside out, and my mind wandered to thoughts of Gerard. I remembered how the first thing I'd noticed about him what his bright red hair, the ends lightly brushing the sides of his neck. Hell, I don't see how one could [i]not[/i] notice Gerard's hair right away, unless maybe you were blind, or at least color blind. It was his most prominent feature, his eyes a close second.  
  
His eyes. Those bright green eyes. The ones that stared me down until I took my stolen cousin's gun away from my temple. I was actually glad Gerard hadn't directed those gorgeous green eyes at me for an extended period of time, because I could easily get lost in them if I even so much as glanced at them. Gerard had such a captivating gaze; it was hard to _not_ look at him in the first place.  
  
Once I had stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist, I leaned over the sink and cleared a spot in the foggy mirror just big enough to see myself in. I wondered what Gerard saw when he looked in the mirror...I bet it was more cheerful than the sad excuse for a teenage boy that I saw in the mirror in front of me. I shook my head to clear it when I started to imagining Gerard standing next to me in the mirror.  
  
Upon entering my bedroom, I quickly dressed for fear of freezing again. Warmly dressed a few moments later, I closed my door and opened my backpack, pulling out the assignment sheet for the English paper I had to write. I then fished my laptop out from under my bed and turned it on, signing into Skype and putting on some quiet music.  
  
I was working diligently on my paper for a solid half hour, and had typed up a good page, when my door burst open. I looked up, annoyed that someone had disrupted my focus, to see my aunt standing in my doorway, her face bright red. "Why the _**hell**_ are there _puddles_ all over the living room and hallway??" she shrieked.  
  
I kept a blank expression on my face, looking at my aunt like this was how she usually spoke to me, which it actually was. "I have to walk home from school, and it was pouring down rain," I explained calmly.  
  
"You couldn't have taken off your wet clothes and left them in the corner by the door?" my aunt asked, merely annoyed now. I could tell by the start of soft tapping on the dark grey carpet of my bedroom.  
  
"No," I said simply.  
  
"And why not?" my aunt asked in a monotone, knowing that I wouldn't give her an explanation the first time around.  
  
"Because the idea of walking up here to my room naked was not an appealing one."  
  
My aunt sighed and shook her head, closing her eyes. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Writing a paper for English."  
  
"When you finish with that, or stop doing that, or whatever, I want you to clean up those puddles. Your cousins are having friends sleeping over tonight, and I don't want any of the parents to get the wrong idea."  
  
"Yes, Aunt Cris," I said, trying my hardest to not sigh and roll my eyes.  
  
"Good," my aunt said, sounding accomplished, and turned around and walked away, not bothering to close the door behind her. When she was down the stairs, and out of earshot, I released the sigh I had been holding in and rolled my eyes. In the six years I had been here, my Aunt Cris had never done one polite thing for me; she's never even passed me anything at the dinner table. She's always left it to my uncle or cousins, and that has been the extent of their politeness to me.  
  
I sighed and got off my bed to close my door, then sat back down on my bed. I repositioned my computer in my lap and tried to refocus on my English paper. I was able to work for another fifteen good minutes when my uncle shouted up the stairs, "Frank, come clean up these puddles!" I just sighed again, saved the Word document I was working on, and closed my computer, aiming to come back to it later.  
  
I rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie I was wearing and took the pair of rags my uncle handed me. I tried to avoid kneeling in the puddles as I leaned down and started to mop them up with the rags in my hands.  
  
About half an hour later, I finally stood up, arching my back and throwing the rags in the garbage, as I always did. I tracked in a little bit of mud, and I had to mop that up as well, so the rags were not only wet, but saturated with mud as well. I washed my hands of the mud and dirty rainwater, and I dried them off as the doorbell rang. I walked into the foyer to answer the door; it must be one of Garrett's or Josiah's friends come for the sleepover tonight. I wondered how many would be coming so as to gauge how much sleep I'd be getting tonight.  
  
I opened the door and a tall, dark-haired woman stood on the porch with her hands on the shoulders of her tall, blond, lanky son, who had a large bag slung over his left shoulder. "Hi, Mrs. Stewart," I greeted, throwing the hand towel I had been drying my hands on over my shoulder.  
  
"Good evening, Frank. I've brought by Sam for tonight. Cris working you hard?" she asked, noticing the hand towel over my shoulder.  
  
I chuckled. "Yeah, I just finished cleaning up a few puddles in the living room."  
  
"Good for you. You seem like the type of boy to have often idle hands." She paused. "Well, I need to be going. Sam's father and I have a dinner planned for tonight."  
  
"Have a good night." I waved to Mrs. Stewart as she walked off the porch and back to her car. I then turned to Sam. "Hey, Sam, come on in."  
  
"Hi, Frank," Sam said. "Where are Garrett and Josiah?"  
  
"In the basement. Bring your bag with you," I answered.  
  
Sam smiled. "Thanks." I just nodded and hung the hand towel back on the handle of the oven and headed upstairs back into my room. I just opened the door because I was close. Ha, yeah right, I opened the door because it was expected of me and I was the only one that actually even hears the doorbell ringing. So while I waited for the doorbell to ring again, I let my thoughts wander.  
  
It surprised me only slightly that Gerard was the first thing I thought of. Gerard: with his bright red hair and bright green eyes.  
  
Like Christmas. I chuckled to myself at the thought.


	3. Three.

"Iero!" the teacher called. I raised my head out of the crook of my elbow and blinked groggily at him. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"  
  
"Can I sleep without being yelled at there?" I croaked. The class, all 29 pairs of eyes flitting between the teacher and I, giggled quietly.  
  
The short, squat, dark-haired man shot a death glare out at them all, but to no avail, so he turned his attention back to me and addressed my question. "Why are you sleeping in the first place, Iero?"  
  
I blinked again and rubbed my left eye. "My cousins are skipping school today, and they had a bunch of their friends sleep over last night. My bedroom is directly above the living room, and they left the television on all night. I didn't fall asleep until three o'clock this morning, and then i had to wake up three hours later," I explained.  
  
The teacher sighed, and I could see the slightest bit of sympathy in his beady brown eyes. All the teachers that I have, and all the guidance counselors knew of my story. If something involved any part of my foster-family, the teachers knew to be just a little sympathetic, and I hated it. I hated being known for my lack of parents. I hated being known and talked about amongst the guidance counselors. I was a common topic there, I knew; whenever someone in class spoke to me, I knew it was probably because they were in the guidance office at some point that day and had heard the counselors talking about me.  
  
The teacher said nothing in response to my explanation, so I just buried my head back in the crook of my elbow and went back to sleep. At least it was first block, and not fourth.  
  
(***)  
  
I slept all the way through my first block class, and about halfway through my second block class, dozing on and off through the second half. In homeroom, the ten minute break between the morning classes and the afternoon classes in which useless announcements that no one pays attention to are aired, I was still sleepy, only having added about two hours to the three I had gotten last night, but I told myself it was only ten minutes and lunch was in about fifteen minutes.  
  
I snapped my head up from on top of my arms, and I got a look or two from the students sitting around me. Lunch. I then remembered Gerard's offer to find him at lunch tomorrow, which was now today. I smiled to myself, the bright-red-haired boy popping up in my mind, and settled my chin back down on my arms crossed on top of the desk.  
  
When the bell rang, long, low, and loud, I picked up my backpack and walked down to the cafeteria. Upon entering, I noticed I was earlier than I usually was, not seeing the pack of cheerleaders in their short skirts and bright pink tops walking around the back of the cafeteria jabbering away with girls and guys alike.  
  
I, of course, didn't see Gerard's bright red hair in the cafeteria either, so I leaned against the wall right outside the doors and waited to see that bright red head. Not thinking that he hadn't come in yet, I didn't think to ever look behind me for Gerard, so he scared me when he placed a hand on my shoulder in hello. I jumped about two feet off the ground, making me look at a giggling Gerard. "Hey, Frank," Gerard said, smiling. "It seems like you decided to take me up on my offer."  
  
I nodded and swallowed, finding my voice. "Yeah," I squeaked. Gerard smiled again and I cleared my throat. "Yeah," I repeated, my voice back down to normal.  
  
Gerard squeezed my shoulder very lightly and beckoned me to follow him. I shouldered my backpack and smiled slightly, following Gerard to a table on the far left of the cafeteria, against the wall, relatively close to the front, but just off the the right of the food court doors. I wondered briefly why Gerard had chosen this spot to sit, and if he sat with any other people. One of my questions was answered a few moments later, when a guy with brown-blonde hair poking out from the bottom of a gray wool hat and thick black glasses sat down and waved at Gerard. "Hey, Gerard." He looked at me and then back at Gerard. "Who's this?" he asked, motioning to me.  
  
Gerard smiled. "This is Frank, a new friend of mine." I felt a small blush creep up on my face, and I looked down, wishing I had long hair all the way around to hide my reddening face.  
  
"Hey, Frank, I'm Mikey. I'm Gerard's brother," the guy said, smiling at me. I smiled back lightly and looked back up at Gerard, who was looking over at his brother. "I'll tell you how I met Frank when I get back." He then looked back over at me. "Do you bring or buy?" he asked.  
  
"Buy," I answered. "There's practically no food in the house ever, except during big parties or sleepovers, so there's never really any food to pack a lunch with."  
  
Gerard nodded. "Well, come on then. You can follow me up to the food court." When we entered, Gerard grabbed a tray and handed it to me before grabbing one for himself. "Do you buy everyday?" Gerard asked, looking over his shoulder at me as I followed him over to the miniature salad bar.  
  
"Yeah, except when I forget my money, when I just walk in here and try to bargain with the lunch ladies to let me buy just a granola bar or something," I answered, grabbing a plastic container labeled 'Chicken Caesar.'  
  
Gerard chuckled. "And do you get something?"  
  
I smiled. "Not usually. The lunch ladies may know my story like all the other faculty, but that doesn't mean I can abuse the sympathy I get for it." Gerard shot me a look. "Or at least that's what the lunch ladies tell me when I get upset after they refuse me food." Gerard then smiled, grabbing a paper carton of french fries off the hot plate next to the salad bar.  
  
"I buy everyday, too, and if I forget my money, I can usually get Mikey to buy my lunch for me," he says, laughing.  
  
I chuckled as we walked up to the small refrigerators by the food court doors. Gerard opened the door and let me pick up a small bottle of iced tea before he picked up a carton of milk. He smiled at me over the door as he closed it and walked around me up to the registers. He typed in his PIN number and paid, walking through the food court doors and waiting for me outside. I smiled at him as I punched in my PIN number and paid for my food, smiling at the lunch lady briefly before joining Gerard outside the food court doors.  
  
As we maneuvered around full lunch tables back to the one I had taken up with Gerard and his brother, I decided to start asking Gerard about, well, Gerard. "So, Gerard," I started as we sat down. Gerard glanced over at me to let me know I had his attention as he opened his salad container. He then looked around his tray for a fork, and sighed, about to get up, but I placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down into his seat lightly. Gerard looked straight at me with his bright green eyes, and I surprised myself but not blushing _or_ looking away, but handing him the second fork I had picked up right before paying for my food. "I picked one up for you on the way out, 'cause I saw you forgot one," I said.  
  
Gerard beamed at me and took the fork. "Thanks, Frank."  
  
I smiled back at him and picked up the other fork, slipping it in between my fingers as I opened my salad container. "You're welcome." I noticed Mikey smiling out of the corner of my eye; it was a knowing smile and I wanted to ask Mikey what he was smiling about, but Gerard asked beat me to it.  
  
"What are you smiling at, Mikes?" he asked playfully.  
  
Mikey chuckled, his smile growing wider, his head down. He looked up at Gerard when Gerard asked Mikey to clarify his answer. "Nothing," he repeated, louder. "I'll tell you when we get home."  
  
Gerard sighed, smiling. "Fine, but you better not 'forget'," he said, putting air quotes around "forget." I smiled at them, how they interacted. My smile quickly disappeared when I thought that I would like something like that, and how I would never get the chance.  
  
"So you said that you'd tell me how you met Frank, Gerard," Mikey said after a moment's silence.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Gerard said, swallowing his mouthful of salad. Spearing another forkful, Gerard began his story. "It was right after lunch. I had to go to the bathroom in third block, and I walked in and saw Frank here standing in the middle of the tiled room with a gun to his head." Gerard said it so casually, like he walked in on teenage strangers with guns to their heads everyday. Mikey raised his eyebrows in surprise and glanced over at me. I looked back at him sheepishly, not wanting to be known to this guy as the guy his brother found in a school bathroom with a gun to his head.  
  
"So I saw him," Gerard continued, "And I was like, 'Whoa, what the fuck are you doing??' Then we continued to have a strangled sort of conversation, during which I got Frank to take the gun away from his head and I learned that he lost his parents at some point."  
  
"Seven years ago," I said. "My parents were murdered seven years ago, and I was forced to watch."  
  
Both Gerard and Mikey looked over at me, both with sad and sympathetic looks on their faces. Gerard slid an arm around my shoulders and rubbed my left shoulder with the hand that was there. "Sorry, Frank," I heard Mikey say.  
  
I looked up at him. "It's alright, I guess. I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousins now, and even though they barely acknowledge my existence, it's better than living on the streets," I said. Now Gerard and Mikey looked at me with surprise on their faces. I smiled slightly. "Another story for another time."  
  
Gerard smiled; I could tell he had something in mind, but I couldn't tell what. "So," he continued, "not wanting to go back to class, we took a walk around the school, but not without running into some random teacher."  
  
"And then Gerard makes up this totally awesome albeit bullshit story about him taking me down to the guidance office because of being bullied in class. I wasn't too fond of the story, but it kept us out of trouble, so as long as it worked, I was okay with it," I butted in.  
  
Mikey smiled and looked at Gerard. "Sounds like my brother," he said, playfully punching Gerard's arm.  
  
Gerard smiled and finished his story, resting his fork on the edge of the salad container. "So we went back to the bathroom to get Frank's stuff, and then we said a kind of awkward goodbye on the bus platform, but not before I invited him to come have lunch with us." He looked around at the couple of empty seats across from him. "Speaking of which, where _are_ Ray and Bob?"  
  
"Ray told me that he was spending the next few days in the library to work on something, but I'm not sure where Bob is. I don't see him until lunch, so I'm not even sure if he's in school today," Mikey said, shrugging.  
  
"Hmph. Well, if he's in school today, I'll see him in fourth block," Gerard said.  
  
After eating and throwing out our trash, Gerard, Mikey, and I were conversing and laughing together like we were old friends. I had my phone out on the table, and Gerard randomly took it without me noticing. When I saw that he had my phone in his hands, I wondered what he was doing with it, and was about to ask, when he placed back on the table in front of me. I looked up at him with questioning eyes, and he just smiled at me, making me smile back.  
  
The woman up at the front of the cafeteria tapped on her microphone and said in a monotonous voice, "Good morning First Lunch, it's time for dismissal." Gerard, Mikey, and I gathered our belongings as she continued her daily spiel about properly disposing of trash and pushing in chairs.  
  
"We'll see you again on Monday?" Mikey asked as we filed out of the cafeteria.  
  
I nodded at him and Gerard smiled. "Awesome. See you on Monday then," he said, and winked at me before he and Mikey went left as I went right and back up the stairs to my classroom. I groaned to myself as I remembered that I had pre-calculus, a class that I absolutely hated, and one I knew I wouldn't be sleeping through.  
  
As I sat down and glared at the teacher, I took out my phone. I flipped through the contacts and saw that Gerard had entered in his number. I smiled as I slipped my phone back into my pocket and decided that I would shoot him a text message if I got bored in pre-calc, which almost guaranteed that Gerard would be getting a text message this block.


	4. Four.

Ugh. Was pre-calculus a class I really needed to take? Actually, yes, if I wanted to graduate high school. I sighed quietly, so I wouldn't get a disapproving look from the teacher, and leaned my chin on my one hand, pretending to pay attention to the lesson about trig-something-or-other. Because this all made perfect sense. I bet Gerard would understand it, he seems like a pretty smart guy.  
  
Now that I was thinking of Gerard, I made sure that the teacher was not paying attention to me in the back corner and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I flipped it open, and scrolled through my contacts, looking for the number Gerard had entered into my phone during lunch. 'Gerard?' I messaged him.  
  
A few minutes later, I received a reply from Gerard, reading, 'Frank?'  
  
I smiled to myself. 'yeah, it's Frank.'  
  
'hey, Frank. :)'  
  
I lowered my head, not wanting anyone to see the huge grin on my face resulting from my conversation with Gerard. 'being a bad ass, Gerard?' I teased.  
  
'XD what about you, Frank?' Gerard teased back.  
  
'haha, i'm not even taking notes or anything, so i'm just adding texting to my list of rules that i've broken.'  
  
It was about half an hour before I received Gerard's next reply. 'well, i suppose i should start making my list too,' Gerard joked.  
  
I smiled again, checking the time. Oh, third block was almost over. I looked down at my backpack and checked that it was closed before replying to Gerard. 'i can help with that. ;)'  
  
'oh really, Frank?' Gerard urged.  
  
I blushed lightly, and mentally kicked myself for putting that wink in with that last text message. Sometimes my fingers and brain didn't exactly coordinate, much to my annoyance. 'heh, sure. if you want.'  
  
'i'll take that as an offer. why don't you come home with me after school today, and just hang out?'  
  
'well, you're the one making the offer, Gerard.'  
  
'haha, this is true, but what do you say?' Damn, he was persistent.  
  
'uhm...what about Mikey?' I asked, kind of avoiding his question.  
  
'oh, he's gonna be staying after school with a friend of his, and then sleeping over her house, so he'll just be stopping by quick after school to pick up clothes and stuff,' Gerard explained.  
  
'oh, okay, uhm, sounds like it could be fun,' I replied, as the bell signaling the end of third block sounded. I shoved my phone back into my pocket quickly and picked up my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder as I joined the group of students filing out the door. I turned the corner, and easily got lost amongst the throes of students that were crowding the hallways, trying to get to their respective places. I had my hand on the handle of the staircase door when I heard my name called.  
  
I turned my head towards the source of the call, even if the person wasn't calling me. I scanned the hallways for the source of the call, and saw a bright red head bobbing in and out of the mob of students, waving a hand up in the air to signal that yes, he was the one that called his name and I was the one being addressed. I waved back, signaling to Gerard, if he could see my hand up in the air, that I saw his hand waving to me and signaling that I knew he was addressing me and not another person named Frank. When Gerard finally made his way through the throes of students, he was grinning widely. "Hey, Frank," he said happily.  
  
I smiled at him. "Hey, Gerard."  
  
"So about that coming to my house after school," Gerard said, not very casually. I chuckled, leaning against the handle of the door. "Are you going downstairs, too?" I nodded, and pushed the door open with the shoulder that wasn't holding my backpack. "So?" Gerard asked again.  
  
I smiled as we descended the stairs. "No one at my house really cares if I come home on Fridays after school, and I bet all my cousins' friends are staying all day and perhaps into the night again, so I'd love to come over and get away from my cousins and all their friends."  
  
I looked over at a beaming Gerard as we descended the second set of stairs on the staircase. I failed to notice the slight upturn of metal on the edge of one of the stairs, so I tripped, and almost fell flat on my face. _Almost._ Gerard grabbed my right arm, since it was closer to him, and then my left, spinning me towards him and crashing us into the cement wall. I was saved from tumbling down the stairs and falling flat on my face, but I couldn't help the insane blush that burned on my face when I realized that Gerard was holding onto both my wrists and I was pressed up against him, our faces _very_ close together. Gerard just smiled and chuckled a little bit at how red my face was, making it even redder, and released my wrists. I awkwardly shuffled away from him and tried to hide my deep red face, even though Gerard had already seen it, up close and personal. "Careful there, Frank," he said quietly. "We don't want you ruining that pretty face of yours." I looked over at Gerard, my face slowly returning to its normal color, and he winked at me, walking down the stairs and stopping at the bottom. "So I'll meet you out by the front door after fourth block, okay?"  
  
I couldn't speak at the moment, so I just nodded and cleared my throat, trying to collect my voice. "Yeah," I managed to say finally, even smiling slightly.  
  
I watched Gerard disappear through the doors at the bottom of the stairs, and then let out a very strained sigh. I adjusted my backpack on my shoulder and followed him through the doors, his bright red head nowhere in sight when I got out into the main hallway.  
  
I checked my watch. Oh, shit, I was about to be late to my fourth block. I could probably make it if I walked fast enough, otherwise I could just say I was staying late talking to my previous teacher about not paying attention or some bullshit like that. I know they'd believe me and wouldn't even think of questioning the truth of my statement, so I just decided to walk there, even if it was just a _little_ bit faster than I normally walked. It's not like I was gonna pay attention in fourth block, anyway, all I'll be able to think about it Gerard and how close I was to him after he had saved my face on the stairs. I then remembered that I never thanked him for saving my face, and I'd have to do so at some point later when I saw him after class today.  
  
 _Thank GOD it's Friday_ , I thought as I casually walked into my fourth block class, five minutes late. There was a substitute teacher today, though, so we were either just watching a movie or spending the block in the library, playing games on the websites that aren't blocked (which are far and few between, unless you have a proxy) when we should be doing some stupid-ass assignment that our real teacher probably isn't going to either collect or check anyway. My bet was on watching the movie, so that I could nestle up in the back corner and just text Gerard.  
  
"Good afternoon, class, my name is Mr. Tipton, and I am going to be your substitute teacher for today. Your teacher, Ms. Striker, is ill and has left me a movie for you to watch until she returns. Now, I'm not stupid, so I know you'll all just talk to each other or pull out homework or do something else that isn't watching the movie, but all I ask is that we keep it down to a dull roar so that I can watch the movie, because I retired from actual teaching three years ago and no longer have anymore papers to grade, hallelujah," a short, balding man in a yellow shirt and khakis spoke from the desk.  
  
I just grinned and pulled out my phone, texting Gerard again. I was actually looking forward to going back to Gerard's house after this class.


	5. Five.

The bell for fourth block is about to ring and I've been ready with my backpack slung over my shoulder, gung-ho, ready to get the hell out of there, for the past fifteen minutes. I had been fucking _watching_ the clock, watching the second hand tick by, slower and slower with every second that ticks by. At one point, I seriously thought time was going to stop, and I would never get to meet Gerard. But it kept on moving, moving me closer to the time I would get to see Gerard again.  
  
And, of course, as soon as I start feeling happy for once about something, or someone in this case, something inside me, this deep, dark, part of me that has to ruin my happiness. Always. Every time. So, it says to me, in my mind, " _What are you thinking, Frank, Gerard probably doesn't even like you like that, he's probably just playing you, because that's the type of guy he is._ "  
  
 _Shut up_ , I said back to my mind. _If Gerard wasn't like that, why did he wink at me when he saved my face on the stairs? Hell, why did he even_ save _my face on the stairs if he wasn't like that?_  
  
" _Psh. You don't know Gerard._ "  
  
 _You're me. You know as much about Gerard as I do. So shut the fuck up._ And that was the last I heard from my deep, dark side, because the bell finally rang, and I was up and out of my chair and out of that classroom in three seconds flat.  
  
What I hated, though, is that the school is under construction, so I couldn't go around the short way past the cafeteria to get out to the bus loading platform. Instead, I had to go the way of everyone else and go around the very long way out past the other classrooms in the hall. I stood by in the corner and pondered quickly whether I wanted to turn the corner and cut through the courtyard, or continue down to the end of the hallway and turn down and get out of the building first before walking around to the bus platform. What the hell am I thinking, I thought, turning here and going through the courtyard is much shorter, even if there are a lot more people going this way.  
  
I turn the corner, the stream of people thinning a little from my deliberation, so I joined them, and then made my way through to the other side of the hallway and out into the courtyard, because I desperately wanted to avoid the new bottleneck hallway since the construction started. I get to enjoy the sunlight for a brief second as I step out into the sunlight, which I greatly enjoyed since it was the middle of February.  
  
I stepped back into the building, warm again, and I rejoined the stream of students, filing out of the front of the building. I rounded the corner, around to the cafeteria, and exited the building again, stepping back out into the cold. I drew my arms to me as I stood outside by the door, waiting for Gerard. "Hey, Frank!" I heard someone call a few minutes later.  
  
I snapped my head straight forward to see Gerard's bright red head coming towards me. He smiled when he saw I had noticed him, and I had to smile back. Gerard's smile was hard not to smile back at. Gerard stopped in front of me, and noticed that I had my arms drawn close to my chest, and I was even shivering a little, having stood still outside for about five minutes. "Hey, Gerard," I chattered.  
  
"You look cold, Frank, you haven't been out here long, have you?" Gerard asked, looking concerned.  
  
I shook my head. "No, just about five minutes, but I don't have a jacket, and I've just been standing here, not generating any body heat for myself."  
  
Gerard chuckled and his messenger bag thunked down on the cement as Gerard took off his winter jacket. I realized what he was doing, and went to refuse, but Gerard wouldn't hear anything I had to say. He softly pushed my backpack off my shoulder, letting it thunk to the ground like his bag, and pulled me off the brick wall, gliding the coat onto my arms and shoulders. I snuggled into it when Gerard had let go of it, and reveled in how warm it was, and how much like him it smelled. I instantly fell in love with the way Gerard's coat smelled, it was a combination of cigarettes and paint. I looked up at Gerard's expectant-looking face. I gripped the edges of the jacket and pulled them together, smiling. "Thanks, Gerard." I saw that he now didn't have a jacket. "Won't you be cold though?"  
  
Gerard smiled again and leaned down to his messenger bag, pulling out a sweatshirt and throwing it over his shoulder. He shut his bag and pulled the sweatshirt off his shoulder, and pulled it over his head, shaking his hair out. "I always have this just in case. You'd be surprised at how much this thing holds," Gerard said, patting his messenger bag when he had pulled it back onto his shoulder. I smiled at him again and picked my backpack up off the ground, shouldering at and stepping next to Gerard. He just smiled back at me again and adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. "Ready to go?" he asked. I nodded. "Okay, good, let's go." We started walking down the platform as the first buses were leaving, and Gerard glanced over at me again. "I hope you don't mind a long walk, it's a bit of a trek, but it's pretty much all flat."  
  
I smiled up at him. "It's okay, I walk home everyday, and it's mostly uphill," I told him.  
  
"So is that how you always look good?" Gerard asked.  
  
I looked down at my feet, trying to hide my blush behind my piece of limp faux-hawk. "I guess," I muttered.  
  
Gerard just chuckled and looked up, kept on walking. A few moments later, after silent walking, I felt Gerard's arm around my shoulder. I watched it for a few moments, but tripped over a rock in the sidewalk, so I kept my gaze focused on the ground rather than the arm draped over my shoulder.  
  
The only uphill we really encountered was Gerard's driveway. It was actually really steep, and it made me wonder how the two cars in the driveway got up there next to Gerard and I without wasting a half tank of gas. We both stopped at the top, by Gerard's front door, and took a moment to catch our breath. "You'd think...I'd be used to that...by now," Gerard panted. I smiled over at him with a breathy chuckle, too out of breath to actually speak. A couple of minutes later, we both stood up, breathing normally again, and Gerard fished around in the outside pocket of his messenger bag for what I assumed was a house key. He found it a few seconds and inserted it in the lock of the front door.  
  
We stepped inside, and it was _exquisite_. My jaw dropped down to the floor, and I had a very hard time bringing it back up again. Gerard noticed and laughed. I then remembered that he was there with me, and looked over at him, finally closing my mouth and blushing again. "You have a really nice house," I said quietly.  
  
Gerard continued to smile. "Thanks." He walked over to the bottom of the staircase and beckoned me to follow him. "C'mon, let's go upstairs."  
  
My cheeks flushed bright red for two seconds, and I was glad Gerard couldn't see them, because that would've been embarrassing. I think Gerard would've known what I was thinking if he saw my briefly bright red cheeks. And I have to admit, I _was_ thinking that, if only for a moment...  
  
I didn't see which way Gerard had gone when he had reached the top of the stairs, but I heard the thunk of the messenger bag on the floor to my right, and then some music started playing, so I just followed the music into Gerard's room. His bag was hanging over the chair that was tucked under the small wooden desk in the corner of his room. The small stereo that was playing Gerard's music was set on a shelf of a bookshelf mounted on the wall to my left, and Gerard himself was laid out on the bed right in front of me, under the window. "You can put your bag by mine, and then make yourself comfortable," he said, stretching his arms above his head and laying them gracefully across the top of the bed.  
  
I smiled nervously and blushed again, lightly, as I walked over to the chair where Gerard's bag was and thunked my bag down underneath where he had hung his. I hung his jacket over his bag, and slipped off my shoes, pushing them right next to my bag with my foot. I then looked around for somewhere to sit in the room, because I didn't want to sit in the chair nor did I want to want to make Gerard move to make room for me anywhere.  
  
Oh, well, that plan failed, because Gerard saw me looking around and sat up, patting the space on the bed next to him. "Oh, sorry about that. That was kinda selfish of me. You can sit here."  
  
I smiled, and with more confidence that I actually knew I had at that point, I walked over to Gerard's bed and sat down next to him. I curled my legs up to my chest and settled against the wall, looking over at Gerard with the same smile on my face. Gerard was settling up still, since he was taller than me, and therefore had longer legs than I did. I chuckled as he struggled with his long legs, and he looked over at me with a mischievous look. I winked at Gerard, and he raised his eyebrows. Aware of what I was actually implying, I blushed and looked away, only glancing over at Gerard when I heard him giggling. God, he was just so perfect.  
  
When Gerard had finally manipulated his legs in the positions that he wanted them, and getting the rest of himself settled, he looked over at me, beaming. I smiled back at him, genuinely happy, which I hadn't been in a while. And it made me all the happier that that deep, dark side of me wasn't here to ruin it this time. "Can I ask you a question, Frank?" Gerard asked.  
  
I nodded, then spoke, as if Gerard didn't understand my nod as a signal to go ahead and ask his question. "Yeah, sure."  
  
"Excuse me for being a little blunt, or whatever, but what's your sexual orientation?"  
  
I chuckled a bit, and looked down at Gerard's sheets and back over at Gerard. "I'm bisexual," I answered.  
  
Gerard nodded, as if he was taking in the information, but was also using it in a way that made me think that he was concocting a scheme or something. "Well, I'm gay," Gerard said.  
  
I nodded, and tried hard to control the grin that wanted to break out on my face. Gerard was gay. Maybe I actually had a chance to make something happen with Gerard. "Hey, Gerard?" I asked. He looked up at me, his captivating gaze taking a firm hold of mine. His green eyes were swimming with happiness and wonder at what my question could be. It also seemed like he actually _wanted_ to know what I had to ask, like he was actually _interested_ in what I had to say, which made me like him that much more. No one usually really cares what I have to say, ever.  
  
When I came back out of the emerald pool that were Gerard's eyes, I realized that Gerard and I had both moved closer to each other, and the tips of his fingers were brushing against mine. Our faces were about an inch apart, and the distance was very slowly closing. "Yes, Frank?" Gerard asked quietly, moving in closer still.  
  
 _It's now or never_ , I thought to myself. So with that in mind, I closed the distance between our faces, and connected our lips. I was surprised by the softness of Gerard's lips against mine, but what surprised me more was that Gerard was actually kissing back. He kissed back like he actually _wanted_ to kiss me, and that just made me kiss him again. I felt Gerard's lips curve into a smile against mine, and I pulled back, looking at him, but keeping my face close to his. "Hey," Gerard muttered.  
  
"What?" I asked, trying not to let the concern come through in my voice.  
  
"I was gonna do that," he said, smiling.  
  
I smiled back and Gerard kissed me again.


	6. Six.

Gerard pulled back again and lightly ran three of his fingers across my cheek. I smiled and reached up to take his hand. I began to close his fingers in my palm, but Gerard took his fingers away before I could grasp them, and instead intertwined them with mine. I looked down at our intertwined fingers and then back up at Gerard, smiling, to see him beaming back at me. "That was my idea," he said quietly.  
  
I grinned and pecked him lightly on the lips. Pulling back, I said, "Looks like I beat you to it."  
  
Gerard chuckled. He then let go of my hand and sat up, with a look on his face that seemed like it was waiting for me to do the same, so I did it a few moments later. We were just sitting together, with me looking at him confusedly, when he laughed and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. With the hand that wasn't against my side, he took my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine again. I grinned and looked up at him. He grinned back at me and kissed me lightly. I started to kiss back, but he pulled away, keeping his face close so as to tease me. "Looks like I beat you to this," he muttered.  
  
I chuckled and went to kiss him again, but he pulled back so I couldn't reach his lips. I whined quietly, making Gerard smile triumphantly. "Nuh-uh, you have to be patient, Frank." I whined again, defeated, and looked Gerard in the eyes with my best puppy-dog face. Gerard sighed. "Although it's a little hard not to kiss you with that adorable face." I grinned, making Gerard kiss me. The grin stayed on my face as I kissed him back, and this time, I could sense a little passion in Gerard's kiss. I pulled back to look at Gerard. "What?" he asked. "Should I not have done that?"  
  
I chuckled lightly, the grin on my face now a small, innocent smile. "No, that was okay, I guess. It's just...." I trailed off and looked away from Gerard.  
  
I could feel him watching me as he urged, "Just what, Frank?"  
  
I looked back up at him, tears turning the surface of my hazel eyes glassy. "The last time I was with a guy, I got hurt very badly, emotionally _and_ physically. And I know you probably wouldn't hurt me on purpose, Gerard, but my previous boyfriend did." The tears started falling as Gerard started to gently stroke my cheek with his thumb. "I became so fucking scared of people after being with him for a long enough time, and I couldn't run away from him. I finally stood up for myself after a year of abuse, and that's when it all ended in a hail of punches. I don't remember much because I was knocked unconscious and woke up in the hospital with a bunch of things broken and a lot of bruises. And what made it even worse was that there was no one there to see me wake up. I had no one rushing over to me and stroking my hair and crying tears of joy because I wasn't dead or in a coma. No one. Just myself." That was when I really started to cry. "And even now, I still have no one. My younger cousin is nice to me, but that's about fucking it. I have no one on my side, no friends to greet when I get to school in the morning, nowhere to go on the weekends, because I have no friends. I go to school to get away from my aunt and uncle and older cousin. I'd rather be there than at home. I keep thinking about running away, but then I remember I have nowhere to go. I'm alone in this world, Gerard, and no one would have fucking cared if I had pulled that trigger in that bathroom," I finished, tears now streaming down my cheeks.  
  
Gerard pulled me into a fierce hug, wrapping his arms around my back and repeatedly kissing the top of my head. I wrapped my arms around his back in return, buried my face in his shoulder, and let go. I cried harder than I had cried in a _long_ time, probably since around the time my parents died. I remember there weren't many nights when I _wouldn't_ cry myself to sleep after images of their dead bodies on the ground haunted me for hours. Some nights I was even lucky to get any sleep at all. As I cried, I heard Gerard mumbling sweet nothings into my hair and felt his hand rubbing up and down my back.  
  
I loosened my grip on Gerard and took a deep breath, sniffling. I finally let go of him, but Gerard kept a grip on me. Instead of keeping his hands on my back or putting them on my shoulders or something, he has to put them on my hips. Fuck me. I bit my lip and looked down as Gerard's thumbs were softly and subtly moving back and forth over the skin of my waist. I felt the movement stop and I could see Gerard's cocked head out of the corner of my eye. "What is it, Frankie?" he asked. I smiled and looked up at him, leaning up to quickly and softly peck him on the lips. Gerard now looked even more confused. "What was that for?"  
  
I chuckled. "For calling me Frankie. I loved the way it sounded coming out of your mouth." I then blushed, realizing the sexual connotation of what I had just said.  
  
Gerard laughed and kissed the tip of my nose. "You'll be Frankie to me from now on. But you didn't answer my original question," he said.  
  
I blushed again, and looked down, biting my lip and closing my eyes as I felt a light squeeze around my hips. Much to my chagrin and embarrassment, a small noise escaped my lips, and I looked up at Gerard smiling in triumph. "Well, that was easy." I whined quietly, and Gerard's smile didn't fade. With his hands still on my hips, he pulled me close to him and kissed me softly. I kissed him back, already starting to melt into his kiss. I draped my legs over Gerard's crossed ones and inched myself closer against him.  
  
Gerard pulled away and looked at me, his eyes intent on something. "Frank, I want to ask you something."  
  
I nodded. "What is it, Gerard?"  
  
"I know you said you've been hurt before, and you were correct about me not wanting to hurt you ever, on purpose or by accident, because you're too sweet for that, but, I was wondering if maybe you could let me into your life?"  
  
A small smile spread across my face. "Are you asking to be my boyfriend, Gerard?"  
  
A smile tugged at the corners of Gerard's mouth. "I like to set a solid foundation before I start building the house," he said.  
  
I laughed. "That's a very nice metaphor for sex, Gerard," I said, and kissed the tip of his nose as he blushed bright red. "But, yes, I think I could let you into my life."  
  
Gerard grinned and lifted me up into his lap. I blushed wildly when I realized what Gerard was doing, making him giggle. I smiled slightly, my face still bright red, and Gerard kissed me again, this time very softly and more passionately than he had the couple of times before. The kiss wasn't bursting with passion, but I could definitely detect it in the way his lips were placed against mine, and how his tongue was slowly slipping out of his mouth. He very lightly traced the contour of my bottom lip with his tongue and I made a small noise. Gerard likes to torture me, I've decided, because he then squeezed my hips and made me squeak and him giggle.  
  
With this move from Gerard, I wrapped my legs loosely around Gerard's waist. I heard him whine quietly, so, taking it as a sign that he wanted my legs tighter around him, I considerably tightened my legs around Gerard's waist, earning a long, low noise of pleasure and approval from Gerard as we continued to kiss. His tongue now pressed against my bottom lip, asking for entry. I stalled for a moment, just kissing Gerard, but he asked again, and I refused. I didn't want that yet, and it seemed Gerard got the message, because he didn't try it a third time. I smiled underneath Gerard's lips and kissed him, lightly taking his bottom lip in between my teeth and letting it slip out. Gerard moaned softly and started kissing me even a bit more passionately, forgetting about my recent refusal earlier and running his tongue along my bottom lip again. But he could play dirty, too, and he played around with my lip ring a little. That earned a small moan from me, because no one I had ever been with had ever done that, and I didn't realize how much of a turn-on it was for me.  
  
And I was about to actually accept Gerard's invitation into my mouth when the door burst open and there was a sarcastically exaggerated "Ew!" from the doorway. Gerard broke off, let off an annoyed sigh, and looked up at his brother that was standing in the doorway, smirking. "Hi, Mikey."  
  
"Mom told me you had a friend over. I didn't realize it was gonna be Frank, and you two were gonna be making out when I got home," Mikey said, still smirking.  
  
I waved awkwardly at Mikey, making Gerard laugh and kiss me lightly. I tried to resume our previous escapade, but he pulled back. "Not yet," he whispered so only I could hear as he turned back to Mikey. "How was your extracurricular?" he asked.  
  
Mikey smiled. "Good, Sarah and I got a lot done."  
  
"How long until you ask her out again?" Gerard asked.  
  
Mikey blushed. "Shut up! I'm gonna ask her out, I just wanna it to be the right time! I don't wanna just burst it out when we're in the middle of working," he answered defensively.  
  
I chuckled. "If you say so," Gerard said, and turned back to me. Still talking to Mikey, he said, "Tell me what happens over there tonight, dude. You know I think her brother is fucking hot."  
  
Mikey laughed. "You don't even know his name, but whatever. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Later, bro."  
  
Gerard looked over at Mikey and smiled. "Have fun, man," he said, and winked, then pressed his lips to mine like it wasn't a big deal that we were kissing and pretty much resuming where we had left off with his younger brother standing in the doorway.  
  
I easily forgot that Mikey was there, though, because Gerard pulled me very close to him and squeezed my hips, making me tighten my legs around Gerard's waist and Gerard let out a small moan. I smiled from underneath the kiss and hoped that Gerard would get around to playing with my lip ring again.  
  
Dude, it was such a fucking turn-on.


	7. Seven.

Gerard and I were laying on Gerard's bed. The door was closed, Gerard's back was against his pillows, on some sort of sitting angle, and his left hand was on the corresponding side. I no longer had my legs around Gerard's waist; I was laying out parallel to Gerard because my legs were getting stiff from being curled around his waist. The hand that wasn't on my waist was intertwined with my hand, and we were just talking and cuddling. Sometimes Gerard would kiss the top of my head, and sometimes he would bring our intertwined hands up to his lips to kiss my hand since he couldn't reach my lips. A couple times, though, I have rolled over to kiss Gerard on the lips, just because I wanted to.  
  
"Frank?"  
  
"Gerard?"  
  
"Did you ever answer my question?"  
  
"About you wanting to be my boyfriend?"  
  
Gerard chuckled nervously, and I tilted my head back to see him blushing lightly. I giggled and Gerard kissed my forehead. "Yeah," he said.  
  
"I did."  
  
"You did?" Gerard asked.  
  
I nodded and turned over so I wasn't craning my neck back. "I did, it was just with a metaphor."  
  
Gerard looked up into space, in thought. His face was covered with realization when he looked back down at me. "Oh yeah. You made a speech about how you've been hurt in the past after we first kissed, I asked if you could let me into your life after you had said your piece, you chuckled and I said how I liked to build a foundation before I build the house, and you laughed and told me that was a nice metaphor for sex. And that made me blush," he recounted.  
  
I smiled and leaned up to kiss him lightly. "Mhm. And then we started kissing more passionately, with my legs around your waist-"  
  
"Which was sexy as hell," Gerard interrupted.  
  
I laughed. "And you started to ask permission, and I kept refusing, but you kept at it, and I was actually going to let you on your third try, but Mikey came in and broke us apart, therefore ruining the moment," I finished.  
  
Gerard raised his eyebrows. "You were actually gonna let me in before Mikey came into the room?" he asked, obviously surprised.  
  
I nodded, and then lowered my voice, looking down. I started to mumble something, but Gerard brought my head up with his first two fingers. "What, Frankie?"  
  
I swallowed, and Gerard took his fingers off my chin. "I was actually contemplating it when you were asking, that's why I was stalling," I said.  
  
Gerard smiled and leaned down to kiss me tenderly. I kissed him back, smiling, and then he pulled away, but kept close. With his right hand, he gripped my chin lightly. "If there's ever anything that I do that makes you uncomfortable, tell me, and I'll stop. No questions asked," he said.  
  
I grinned and kissed him. He smiled behind the kiss and kissed me back. He moved to pull away, but I wasn't letting him. I kissed him again, and he kissed back, settling down, accepting that he couldn't pull away and might as well sit back and just kiss me. And that's exactly what I wanted.  
  
I kissed Gerard again, and he kissed back, and then kissed me right afterwards. That fucker took control! Luckily for him, that was another turn-on for me. I kissed him back, and, because I like to, I took Gerard's bottom lip in between my teeth and kept it there with just enough pressure. I let it go when Gerard whined loudly, and chuckled as his tongue pressed up against my bottom lip, hard. I uttered a soft noise and let him in. That very obviously surprised Gerard, as I expected it to, but I was surprised at how gentle Gerard was being once he got in.  
  
His tongue found mine, and lightly pressed against it - an invitation to play. I smiled in my mind and accepted his invitation, my tongue pushing back against his a bit stronger than Gerard had against mine. He chuckled lightly and our tongues began a graceful dance of play for probably around half an hour. At the end of the half hour, our breathing was considerably heavier, and Gerard decided to end by licking the roof of my mouth. I moaned into his mouth, and Gerard's hands went from my sides to my hips, rubbing his thumbs over the protruding bones, making me moan even louder. Gerard made a small noise, and squeezed my hips before disconnecting our lips and looking at me. The look in his eyes said 'I want to continue, but I want to take a small break to switch positions first.' I smiled as my hands walked backwards over Gerard's sheets, bringing to a seated position on my heels in between Gerard's feet. Gerard just sat up, both of us breathing somewhat heavily, and then he inched forward, and I knew why he was doing so. I grinned and moved back up to Gerard, kissing him again, as I slowly wrapped his legs around his waist. He grinned beneath the kiss we were currently engaged in, and I kissed him even more passionately, this time pressing my tongue against Gerard's bottom lip. He let me in (like I thought he was going to refuse), and I went looking for Gerard's tongue. I found it and flicked my tongue against his, eliciting a small moan from Gerard. I smiled in my mind and repeated the action, eliciting a louder moan from Gerard. Satisfied, I bit his bottom lip as I took my tongue back and let Gerard have his turn.  
  
And oh, that was probably a bad idea. Because Gerard went straight for my lip ring. I love how it feels pressed up against Gerard's lips, and I wonder what Gerard thinks of it. With his hands still on my hips, he squeezed them tightly, making me squeak and then breath out audibly. Gerard then took my lip ring in between his teeth and tugged lightly. I uttered a small noise, and I guess that wasn't enough for Gerard, because he tugged on it again, harder. I moaned and ran my tongue along the bottom of Gerard's bottom lip. He uttered a small noise, and pulled at my lip ring again, even harder this time. I moaned louder, Gerard's name on the verge of escaping my lips in my sexual state. Gerard's tongue flicked around the spots in my lip where the ring penetrated, and I moaned loudly. "Gerard." The name came out as an afterthought to the noises I was making, and I could tell this greatly pleased Gerard.  
  
He detached his lips from mine and looked at me, a smirk playing at the right corner of his mouth. "You fucking tease," I breathed.  
  
Gerard laughed breathlessly and moved his hands from my hips to my sides. He was dragging my shirt up slowly, revealing the large tattoo that went entirely around my waist. Gerard kept his eyes locked on mine and his hands stopped halfway up my chest, silently asking for approval. Lost in the moment, I confidently nodded, and Gerard raised his eyebrows. I nodded again and shrugged, muttering, "Why the hell not? We've come this far."  
  
Gerard just smiled as I lifted my arms over my head. My shirt came off, revealing my inked body. I blushed deep red as Gerard stared, wide-eyed, at all my tattoos and probably the rest of me. "Frankie..." he breathed. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and looked up at Gerard, who was looking up at me. "You're beautiful." I smiled, and Gerard leaned in and kissed me softly. I kissed back, smiling, and Gerard pulled back, beaming at me. "Absolutely beautiful."  
  
"Thanks," I murmured, blushing again.  
  
Gerard chuckled. "You sure have a lot of tattoos. When did you get them all?" he asked.  
  
I smiled. "Over the years, starting when I was 16."  
  
"Your parents let you get tattoos at 16 and 17?" Gerard asked. I looked down, and Gerard realized what he had said. He took my hands in his and squeezed them. "Oh, I'm sorry, Frankie. I really am sorry. I'm just so used to-" Gerard cut himself off. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.  
  
I looked back up at Gerard, tear tracks on my face, and I shrugged. "It's okay. You forgot. A lot of people do that," I said.  
  
"It's not okay, Frankie, I forgot something really bad and made you cry."  
  
I smiled lightly. "Gerard, really, it's okay. It happens to me all the time."  
  
"But I feel bad because I should remember this shit as your boyfriend," Gerard said, blushing lightly at the end of his sentence.  
  
I wiped the dried tears from my cheeks and looked at Gerard. "Gerard, why do you always blush when you call yourself my boyfriend?" I asked.  
  
Gerard's blush deepened to a more reddish color. "Because I'm not used to it yet. And because you're just so amazing, it's hard to believe I can call you my boyfriend," he said.  
  
I grinned and kissed him sweetly. "That's adorable, Gerard."  
  
He smiled. "You know, you can call me Gee if you want. Mikey and the other guys do, usually."  
  
I giggled. "Gee. I like that."  
  
"Okay. So you'll be Frankie and I'll be Gee," Gerard said.  
  
I grinned and kissed Gerard again. He pulled back quickly, though, and looked at me. "What's your last name, Frank?" he asked.  
  
I laughed. "Iero."  
  
"Frank Iero. Rolls off the tongue nicely."  
  
"Hey, you pronounced it right!"  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Yeah! Most people butcher it on the first try," I said.  
  
Gerard smiled. "Well, mine is Way."  
  
"Gerard Way. I like that, too."  
  
Gerard pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. "Shit, Frankie, it's almost seven o'clock. We've been up here for almost four hours!"  
  
I laughed. "Shit, man, I guess I should be getting home."  
  
"You can stay here if you want," Gerard offered.  
  
I smiled. "I don't have any pajamas or anything."  
  
"You can borrow some of mine. I don't think they'll be terribly big on you."  
  
I kissed Gerard sweetly. "Well, thanks, Gee."  
  
He smiled and pulled his shirt off out of nowhere. I raised my eyebrows as his shirt fell to the ground, and my eyes widened when they fell on his chest. "Fuck, Gee," I said. "You're gorgeous! But what was that for?"  
  
He laughed. "Just to give you something to look at." I blushed. "And to make it even," he said, and winked at me, hitching me up onto his lap and kissing me passionately.


	8. Eight.

Gerard pulled back and looked at me, both of us panting heavily. "I know somewhere...we can go...if you want," he panted.  
  
I smiled and nodded. "Like where?" I asked.  
  
"If you wanna see...you'll have to come with me," Gerard panted again.  
  
I chuckled and untangled my legs from Gerard's waist. "Hand me my shirt, then," I said. Gerard shook his head. "What?!" I exclaimed. "Gerard, it's February!"  
  
He smiled, then got up off the bed and walked over to his closet. He slid the door open and stood in front of it, sorting through coat hangers in search of something. "Oh, right," he said quietly to himself, and shut the door to his closet. Shaking his head, he walked over to his desk chair where we had put our stuff earlier in the afternoon, and pulled the sweatshirt he had lent me walking here from school off the chair. He threw it over to me, and it landed on my head. We laughed as I pulled it off my head and I threw it over my bare chest, pushing my arms through the sleeves. "Sorry, Frankie!" Gerard said, walking over to the bed and kissed me lightly.  
  
I giggled and kissed him back. "It's okay, I'm not a very good shot either," I said, and he smiled, walking back over to his desk. He took the sweatshirt draped over it and pulled it over his head. When it was on, he came back over to the bed and held out his hand. I smiled and took it, Gerard hoisting me up off his bed. When I stepped down on the carpet, I realized I wasn't wearing shoes. "Gerard?" I asked.  
  
"Yes, Frankie?"  
  
"Won't we need shoes?"  
  
Gerard stopped his move towards his bedroom door. "Oh, yeah. Good call, Frankie," he said. He turned, smiled at me, and kissed me. I smiled behind his kiss and went to kiss him back, but I felt something bump into Gerard's back. I didn't pay it much attention and kissed Gerard back.  
  
"Oh! Gerard, who's this?"  
  
Gerard pulled back and looked up at the woman who addressed him, sighing. "Hi, Mom." My eyes widened.  
  
"You didn't answer me, Gerard, who is this?" Gerard's mom asked, gesturing towards me.  
  
"This is Frank, Mom," he said flatly. Gerard turned to me. "Frank, this is my mom."  
  
She smiled. "Hi, Frank, I'm Gerard's mom. My name is Donna, if you're comfortable with that."  
  
I smiled back at her. "Well, I see where Gerard gets his amazing smile from," I said.  
  
Donna blushed lightly and looked up at Gerard. "I like him, Gerard, you can certainly bring him by more often."  
  
"I think I will be, Mom, Frank is my boyfriend," he said. I saw his cheeks turn slightly pink and I giggled, kissing one of them.  
  
"Well how come I've never met him before, Gerard?" Donna exclaimed. I laughed.  
  
Gerard's blush deepened a bit as he looked down at his floor. When he looked back up, he said, "Because I just met him yesterday."  
  
"Well, Gerard, aren't you a romantic!" Donna squealed. Gerard's blush deepened even more and I turned his face to mine and kissed him. Gerard kissed back, but I pulled away before he could do anything else; I didn't want to embarrass his mom. "Well, I just came upstairs to tell you, Gerard, that dinner's ready. Cheese ravioli."  
  
"That sounds awesome, Mom, but Frank and I were just going to take a little walk. I wanted to show Frank something," Gerard answered. "Save us some, though, okay?" He smiled at his mother.  
  
She smiled back. "Sure, hon. I'll see you in a bit, then," she said, then closed the door behind her as she left.  
  
"We've certainly done a lot in a day, haven't we?" I wondered aloud, blushing.  
  
Gerard laughed. "Yeah, I guess. It's okay, though, it was fun. We can move at whatever pace you want, Frankie."  
  
I smiled. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Somewhere special. Now get your shoes on," Gerard said, pecking my lips and walking over to his shoes.  
  
I blushed lightly and went over to the desk in the corner to pick my shoes up from under the chair. I walked over to the bed where Gerard was putting his shoes on, and I set mine on the ground, sitting down next to him.  
  
"Ready to go?" Gerard asked a few minutes later. I stood up and took Gerard's hand in mine, nodding. Gerard grinned. "Let's go, then, babe."  
  
(***)  
  
"Gerard?" I called for the fourth time. It was getting dark, we were in some sort of wooded area, and I didn't know my way around, so I kept losing Gerard. "Gerard, where are you?"  
  
"Out here, Frankie!" I heard Gerard call from somewhere on my left.  
  
I fought my way through some brambles trying to find Gerard. "Where are you, Gerard?" I called again when I came into a small clearing.  
  
"Right here, Frankie," he said, poking his head out between two trees slightly to my right.  
  
"Are we almost there?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Gerard giggled. "Yeah, follow me just a little bit this way," he said, beckoning me.  
  
I sighed and following him through another set of brambles and low-lying branches. I didn't see one in the falling darkness, and as I bent under one, I stood up and hit my head on another. "Ow, fuck!" I yelled, rubbing the spot where I hit my head.  
  
Gerard had been holding my hand the whole time through the brambles and such, and squeezed it. "Are you okay, Frankie?" he asked, audibly concerned.  
  
"Yeah, I just hit my head on a branch," I muttered.  
  
"It's my fault, Frankie, I should've brought us out here earlier. It's getting dark, so it's hard to see," Gerard said.  
  
I chuckled. "Gee, stop blaming on yourself. I just wasn't being careful, even if it _is_ getting dark."  
  
We came out into a second, even smaller clearing, and in it, right in front of us was a small cliff with a gazebo built on it. There was a small bench inside of it, and there were trees all around, except for the point of the cliff where you could see out across the town below. "Here we are, Frankie. It's my special spot. I've never brought anyone here before, not even Mikey."  
  
I raised my eyebrows at Gerard. "Gee, this...this is beautiful," I said. "You didn't have to bring me out here. I don't wanna, like, ruin the sanctity of it or something."  
  
He laughed. "Don't worry, having you here just makes it that more special." He leaned in to kiss me sweetly. "If you ever wanna come here, don't hesitate to ask. You can even come here even if you're not with me. This spot is as much mine as it is yours now, Frankie. I wanna share it with you."  
  
I grinned. "Gee..." I breathed. I couldn't find words for what I wanted to say, so I just leaned in and kissed him passionately instead. He kissed back, and we stood there, kissing for a couple minutes.  
  
Gerard pulled away and said, "Come on, I know a perfect spot for viewing the sunset. Or what's left of it."  
  
I giggled and Gerard took my hand, leading me across a narrow walkway and into the gazebo. We stood at the front, our fingers linked, and I gasped, a huge grin spreading across my face. "Gee, this is amazing!" I squeaked.  
  
He laughed and turned me to him to kiss me. I kissed him back enthusiastically, and he pulled away. "I'm glad you like it, Frankie. Now let's get back to my house. There's some ravioli waiting for us."  
  
"And hot chocolate?" I asked.  
  
Gerard giggled. "Yes, Frankie, we can make some hot chocolate when we get back, too." I grinned and Gerard took my hand, leading me back through the brambles. "Careful of that branch, Frankie," he said.  
  
"Oh, shut up, Gee," I said.  
  
He just laughed.


	9. Nine.

Gerard and I walked hand-in-hand into the cafeteria on Monday, and we set our bags down over our chairs. Mikey noticed our hands intertwined and looked up at Gerard, an eyebrow cocked and a small smile on his face. Gerard looked down at our hands, looked up at me, smiled, and then looked back at Mikey, still smiling. He just squeezed my hand as he said, "We're gonna go get lunch. Be back in a few minutes." I smiled at Mikey as Gerard wheeled me around and we walked towards the food court entrance.  
  
Gerard started swinging his arm back and forth, our hands still intertwined. I smiled and looked over at him to see him looking back at me, smiling. I wanted badly to just peck him on the lips right there, but I didn't know how he felt about public displays of affection. Plus, I didn't know about the tolerance level of the other kids milling about the cafeteria. I mean, Gerard told me what people think of him earlier in the weekend, and that he didn't really care, but I knew he still kinda did. It's not like he can help it; I say that I don't really care what people think about me, but I still do. It's just a matter of letting your slight bit of concern show through, which Gerard was really good at hiding.  
  
When we were in line to pay for our food, or just Gerard's, because all I had was an apple, he let me go first and whispered in my ear, "I know how much you wanted to kiss me in the entrance of the food court, I wanted to too, but I'm just afraid that the other kids here would eat you alive if they saw you with me."  
  
I waited for him to pay for his food, and as we were walking back to our table, I asked, "What do you mean the other kids would eat me alive "if they saw you with me"?"  
  
Gerard looked over at me as he set down his food tray. "That's a story for a time when I actually have time to tell it." He then smiled lightly and sneaked a peck on my cheek.  
  
I blushed and went to open the lunch I had packed for myself. My aunt and uncle had a huge party when I was over at Gerard's this past weekend, so there was an abundance of food left for me to pack a lunch. As I pulled out the contents one by one, Gerard glanced over at me and saw them. "Your aunt and uncle have a party this weekend?"  
  
I giggled, and came _this close_ to leaning in and kissing him, but then I remembered what he said just a few moments earlier and leaned back, just nodding, the smile that Gerard's comment had induced now gone from my face. "Yeah," I said, in case Gerard hadn't seen me nodding.  
  
Gerard sighed and inched his chair closer to mine, gently placing an arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his shoulder, sighing. We just sat there for a few moments like that, occasionally picking at our food, and then Gerard said, "You know what, Frankie?"  
  
I smiled lightly and looked up at him. "What, Gee?" I asked.  
  
He smiled down at me. "Fuck the other kids," he said, and leaned down and connected our lips, and it wasn't brief and sweet; it was a legitimate kiss.  
  
I decided to sit up a bit as to get a more comfortable position kissing my boyfriend, because him kissing me while I'm against his shoulder can't be the most comfortable thing in the world. As I sat up, I felt Gerard smile against my lips and he kissed me again. I was almost positive that he now _wanted_ people to see that we were together and that he didn't fucking care if anyone said shit to him about it.  
  
Gerard and I were kissing for a few minutes when Gerard was abruptly pulled away from me. I uttered a small noise of annoyance, only to realize that it was some douche-bag that apparently knew Gerard, because as he walked by, he said to him, "Got yourself a new fag, Way?"  
  
Gerard's eyebrows and the corners of his mouth sunk south into an angry frown. "Fuck off, Terrence, no one here needs any comments from the penis gallery." I heard Mikey chuckle quietly.  
  
The face of the boy Gerard addressed as Terrence reddened in both anger and embarrassment, but he just stalked off without saying anything. "I get the feeling you've been in altercations with that guy before," I thought aloud to Gerard.  
  
"Yeah, and none of them have been pleasant. Mikey knows a lot about them," he answered, pointing a thumb in Mikey's direction.  
  
I looked up at Mikey. "More than I care to know. Dude, some of 'em got real nasty; it took both Ray and I to pull Gerard away from that kid once," he said.  
  
I grimaced. "Yikes!"  
  
Gerard nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah, I didn't come away too pretty after that one. Remember how Mom flipped a shit that night when you and Ray helped me hobble into the house?" he said to Mikey.  
  
Mikey nodded. "Yeah, she was screaming and then she started crying and she would just go back and forth between the two."  
  
"And then the screaming and crying kinda combined into one sound," Ray added.  
  
"All in all," Mikey said, standing up, his empty brown bag lunch in his one hand, "Things with Terrence have never ended well."  
  
I nodded and looked up at Gerard, concerned. "What?" he asked.  
  
"I'm just worried that he's gonna hurt you again," I murmured, burying my head into his shoulder.  
  
Gerard chuckled and started lightly stroking my hair. "Don't worry, Frankie, he's not gonna get to me anymore. And I certainly won't let him or anyone else get to you." I looked back up at him and smiled, and he leaned down and kissed me sweetly.  
  
"Good afternoon First Lunch, it's time for dismissal. Please remember to push in your chairs and dispose of your trash in the proper receptacles. Thank you and have a nice rest of your afternoon," the monotonous voice over the microphone announced.  
  
Gerard took the trash of the little food I had eaten out while I stood up, stretched, and gathered up my stuff. I walked over to meet Gerard and he took my hand as we walked out of the cafeteria. He walked me to my locker and then my class after lunch. As we stood outside the big window of the room, Gerard said, "You coming over today after school?"  
  
I sighed and said, "Gee, you know I would love to, but my absence is gonna be much easier to recognize now that there's not a whole houseful of drunk people and then some. I'll see if I can make it over tomorrow, okay?"  
  
He just smiled and pecked me lightly on the lips. "Of course, Frankie." Gerard then grabs my arm, rolls up my sleeve, and as he uncaps the pen with his mouth, he sees them. "Frankie," he says disdainfully.  
  
"Gerard...I hoped you wouldn't see those yet."  
  
"They look recent, Frankie."  
  
I sighed. "They are."  
  
Gerard squeezed the wrist that was in his hand. "Frankie..."  
  
"I haven't even thought about it since I met you," I said quietly, looking straight at Gerard.  
  
He looked straight back at me. "Well that's a reassuring thought. Now, I was gonna write down my Skype name so you can chat me or something tonight, okay?"  
  
I smiled as I watched Gerard write his username on my forearm in Sharpie marker. "Yeah, I won't forget."  
  
Gerard smiled and pecked me on the lips again. "Get in there before you're late, Mr. Iero," he said.  
  
I giggled and kissed him briefly. "Right away, sir."  
  
Gerard chuckled. "Bye, Frankie."  
  
I grinned. "Bye, Gee." And everyone is staring at me when I walk in the room with the big grin on my face.


	10. Ten.

As I came through the back door and shook my hair out of my face, I came face-to-face with my aunt, sitting at the small kitchen table typing away on her laptop. "Frank?" she asked, looking up.  
  
I looked back at her as calmly as I could manage. "Yes, Aunt Cris?"  
  
"Where were you this past weekend?" she asked. I resisted the urge to not tilt my head to the side in confusion. She didn't have any sort of negative tone to her voice and she wasn't yelling. This is definitely something new.  
  
"Oh, I was just at a friend's house," I answered, letting my backpack slide off my shoulder and quietly _thud_ onto the wooden floor of the kitchen.  
  
My aunt actually smiled. She fucking _smiled_. "Well, that's nice. Your uncle and I had a party for some of our clients." My aunt and uncle worked together for some sort of big medical corporation. She then chuckled and tapped a few keys on her laptop. "You could probably tell this morning when you were packing a lunch, couldn't you?" she asked.  
  
I smiled. "Yeah," I said.  
  
"Do you have a lot of work tonight?" my aunt asked.  
  
I shrugged. "The same as always."  
  
My aunt nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll let you get on to doing that." She paused a moment before adding something else on, almost like she had to think about whether or not she wanted to actually say it. "It's good to know you have a friend, Frank," she said.  
  
I smiled at her, probably for the first time ever. "Thanks, Aunt Cris." I took a few steps away from the back door, then stopped and turned back around. My aunt had gone back to her work on her laptop, and when she noticed me standing by the table again, she looked up, a questioning look on her face. "I was just wondering..."  
  
"Yes, Frank?" she asked.  
  
"Is it okay if, after I'm done all my work, I can go over my friend's house tonight?" I asked tentatively.  
  
My aunt smiled again. "Sure, Frank, just be sure to be back by eleven-thirty, okay?"  
  
I nodded. "Yeah, of course. Thanks, Aunt Cris," I said, and smiled at her again.  
  
She smiled back at me. "You're welcome, Frank. Now go get that work done."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," I said, and hoisted my backpack back on my shoulder, walking towards the stairs. That was weird. I think that was the first time my aunt and I have actually spoken like human beings. I wonder what's made her different, or if this is even a permanent thing...  
  
(***)  
  
My pre-calc assignment took me about half an hour, and then I picked up my computer and turned it on to take and online quiz for history. I signed into Skype, and then rolled up my sleeve to look at the name Gerard had scrawled on my arm before I walked into pre-calc today: 'the.only.way' I smiled at Gerard's jagged handwriting as I entered the name into my contacts. A few minutes later, the name popped up under "My Online Contacts."  
  
As I opened my Internet browser, I received a message on Skype. 'the.only.way: Frankie?'  
  
I smiled. 'iero-: hey Gee. :)'  
  
'the.only.way: Frankie! <3'  
  
'iero-: Gee guess what!'  
  
'the.only.way: what Frankie??'  
  
'iero-: when i came home from school, my aunt was _nice_ to me'  
  
'the.only.way: :O wow Frankie!'  
  
'iero-: i was quite surprised. oh and guess what else!'  
  
'the.only.way: whattt??'  
  
'iero-: she said that if i finish all my work i can come over tonight!'  
  
'the.only.way: YAYY!!! how much work do you have left?'  
  
'iero-: i just have to take this online quiz for history'  
  
'the.only.way: YAYY!! again! XD okay, well what time do you think you'll be over?'  
  
'iero-: 20 minutes? maybe half an hour?'  
  
'the.only.way: okay! see you soon Frankie <3'  
  
'iero-: yeah :)' And with that, I signed out of Skype and hurriedly took the online quiz. I was finished in about ten minutes, and afterwards I slipped my shoes back on and grabbed my jacket and phone. As I turned the corner when I was at the bottom of the stairs, I saw my uncle sitting at the big desk in the front room, doing some sort of online inventory or something. He heard me walk in, I assume, because he looked up and smiled lightly. "Hey, Frank, going somewhere?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, Uncle Alex, I'm going over to a friend's house."  
  
"Alright." He turned back to his work. "Did your aunt give you a time to be home by?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, eleven-thirty."  
  
"Okay. See you later, then."  
  
"Bye, Uncle Alex." I pulled my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and went out the front door. I remembered how to get to Gerard's house, but only from school, so I walked in that direction until I recognized the shortcut that Gerard and I took to his house that runs adjacent to the soccer field about a mile away from school. By the time I hoofed it up Gerard's steep driveway and arrived at his front door, I was freezing.  
  
I rang the doorbell and shoved my bare hands in my pockets, dancing back and forth on my heels to try and generate some heat for myself. When Mikey answered the door, he smiled and said, "Frank! Hey, come on in, Gerard's been anxiously expecting you." I smiled and stepped inside, Mikey closing the door behind me. I just stood on the front mat, looking around the beautiful and shivering. "Shit, Frank, you're shivering!" Mikey turned towards the staircase. "Gerard! Get your ass down here, Frank is here!" he yelled.  
  
There was a faint squeal, which made me smile lightly as I stood there shivering, and then we heard sock-clad feet padding across the hallway. "Frankie!" Gerard exclaimed from the top of the stairs.  
  
A grin spread across my face. "G-Gerard!" I exclaimed back.  
  
Gerard giggled and rushed down the stairs, enveloping me into a tight hug. "Frankie, you're shivering! Come on upstairs," he said.  
  
"Keep it PG-13, you two!" Mikey called to us as Gerard dragged me upstairs. He just stuck his tongue out at Mikey before entering his bedroom and closing the door behind him.  
  
"Welcome back to my room," Gerard said, chuckling lightly as he led me to his bed. He sat me down, took off my jacket, and fished a sweatshirt out from his closet. He walked over and handed it to me. "Here, Frankie, maybe you won't be so cold if you put this on," he said.  
  
I took it from him and pulled it over my head. "This is really warm, Gee, thanks!" I said, and pecked his lips as he stood back up.  
  
I could tell this gave Gerard an idea, because he smirked and waited until I had pulled my other arm through the sleeve and settled myself in before sitting down next to me and snaking an arm around my waist. "I don't see why I just gave you that, actually," he murmured into my ear, brushing his lips against the shell of my ear.  
  
I blushed and bit my lip. "I can take it off if you want," I replied quietly.  
  
Gerard chuckled and brushed his lips against the shell of my ear again. "If you're still cold you can leave it on," he said.  
  
My blush deepened, making Gerard chuckle again as he now nibbled lightly on my earlobe. I let out a very soft noise, and Gerard moved his lips down onto the top of my neck, the only place he could reach with me wearing his sweatshirt. "It is quite a hindrance, though," he said quietly.  
  
I detached myself from Gerard momentarily to pull the sweatshirt over my head, briefly giving Gerard a glance at the tattoo around my waist. I pulled my arms out of the sleeves and tossed the sweatshirt over in the direction of the desk chair. I turned back to Gerard and he had this mischievous look in his eyes. "What?" I asked innocently, because I actually didn't know what he was thinking.  
  
"I wanna see more of those tattoos," Gerard said quietly, reattaching his lips to my neck and starting to suck gently. I bent my head to the side to give him better access, and he moaned oh-so-softly, wrapping his other arm around my waist and linking his hands together, pulling me close to him.  
  
As he went on, my noises got gradually louder and longer, and I could feel Gerard's smile get bigger against the skin of my neck. He detached, and I turned my head to face him, our breathing slightly heavy. "That should turn out nicely," Gerard said. I chuckled, blushing lightly. Gerard kissed both of my lightly pink cheeks and said, "You kind of blush a lot."  
  
My blush deepened, and I said in reply, "I know. I can't help it. I haven't been with a guy in a year. I'm not used to it."  
  
Gerard looked at me incredulously. "A year?" I nodded. "Well, did you have any girlfriends in between then and now?" I shook my head. Gerard looked at me like I was crazy. "Frankie...can I ask you something?"  
  
I kissed his nose. "Of course, Gee."  
  
"Are you a virgin?"  
  
I bit my lip and looked down. When I looked back up at him, my eyes were glassy and brimming with tears. I sniffled and one fell. Gerard wiped it away gently with his thumb and waited for me to respond. "Yes," I finally said. "But I've had to fight to keep it that way."  
  
"Frankie, I'm sorry," Gee said, tenderly kissing my forehead and my cheeks. He finally kissed me on the lips for the first time that night, and it was sweet but sad, because that's when my tears really starting falling. I bet Gerard could feel them on his face and that's why he pulled away, taking my face firmly in his hands. "Frankie," Gerard said, shaking me lightly to make me look him straight in the eye. "I will never hurt you on purpose. Ever. If I ever do anything that makes you the slightest bit uncomfortable, _tell me_. I'll stop. I don't want to hurt you, ever, you've been through too much and you're much too sweet for that. The same goes for anything I ever ask you, okay?"  
  
I just nodded and leaned in to kiss him. After a few minutes, I pulled back, tears no longer falling, but my face still red and my eyes bloodshot. "You're so good to me, Gee," I said quietly. "I don't deserve you."  
  
Gerard sighed and kissed me again. "Yes," he said, kissing my nose. "You most certainly do, especially after all the shit you've been through." He kissed my lips again, a passionate kiss that I desperately needed right then.  
  
I kissed him back, hard, placing my hands on his chest and pushing him back a little. I pulled away and murmured, "Sorry."  
  
Gerard smiled and placed his hands on my sides, making me blush for the umpteenth time. "No, don't be. I think it's sexy when a guy takes control," he said. I looked up at him and he winked, making me smile.  
  
"You wanted to see those tattoos again?" I asked flirtatiously. Or, at least, as flirtatiously as I could manage at that moment. Gerard nodded vigorously. I grinned and gently pushed his hands off my sides. I lifted both of my shirts that I was wearing off in one motion and tossed them over the bed next to me. Gerard grinned mischievously again and I watched as his eyes roamed my inked chest and arms.  
  
"Fuck, Frankie, you're so fucking beautiful."  
  
I blushed. "Thanks."  
  
"Here," Gerard said, taking his shirt off, throwing it next to mine, and then taking my hands and placing them on his sides.  
  
I gasped lightly, making Gerard chuckle, but then I understood what he wanted me to do, so I leaned in and kissed him on the lips and squeezed his sides a few seconds later. This elicited a somewhat loud moan from Gerard, and I grinned. I kissed him again, harder, and also squeezed his sides again, harder. Gerard moaned loudly and broke off, panting. "Frankie," he breathed. "You're turning me on so hard."  
  
I blushed bright red and Gerard kissed my cheek. I turned back to him and kissed him again, and he kissed me back, but he expected me to do something else, so he was confused when he tried to kiss me back again, but I didn't kiss him again in the first place. He pulled back and looked at me, confused, and that's when I squeezed his sides again, very hard, and Gerard squeaked and then moaned right in my face. Smirking, he kissed me, hard, and took my legs and placed them next to his waist. Smiling, I wrapped my legs around his waist tightly and moved my arms to up around his neck. Gerard was fiercely kissing me, and I knew he had a game plan for tonight. He pulled away momentarily, though, and looked at me. "Do you have to be home by a specific time?" he asked.  
  
I nodded. "Eleven-thirty."  
  
Gerard pulled my phone out of my pocket, making me gasp (again, God, he does that a lot), and he checked the time. "It's only seven o'clock now, wow." He slid my phone back in my pocket, making me bite my lip. Gerard grinned as he kissed me passionately again. "That gives me plenty of time," he said.  
  
I widened my eyes and looked at him. "What did you have in mind?" I asked.  
  
Gerard laughed and kissed me again. "Don't worry, Frankie, it's nothing you would object to. At least, I hope you won't. You'll have to excuse me here, Frankie, it's your fault I'm like this."  
  
"My fault?!"  
  
"Like, I said, I think a guy taking control is sexy." Gerard kissed me hard on the lips. "Very sexy." He then moved down to my collarbone, sucking on the thin layer of skin and even biting it once, eliciting a somewhat loud moan from me and making me tangle my hands in Gerard's hair. He bit down again and I moaned again, Gerard detaching and kissing my lips again, going straight for my lip ring. He nibbled at it, making me utter breathy moans into his mouth. My hands returned to his sides, and I squeezed, making him moan into my mouth in return. "Oh, Frankie," he breathed.  
  
"Gee," I breathed back.  
  
"Will you let me do something to you?" he asked quietly.  
  
"It depends on what it is," I answered cautiously.  
  
One of Gerard's hands was felt down by my pants, and he placed his whole hand around the crotch of my jeans, squeezing lightly. I let out a very high-pitched noise, very literally a squeak, and Gerard grinned. "Can I?" he asked.  
  
I thought for a moment. This was something completely different than we had ever done. This was breaking a new barrier, breaching a new boundary. I know Gerard would never hurt me on purpose, and I know he said I could tell him if something ever made me uncomfortable, but I actually wasn't sure how I felt about this. I guess I'd let him go ahead, because I trusted Gerard for the most part - I mean, it seemed like he knew what he was doing - and I'd tell him to stop if I got too freaked out or something. I just nodded at first because I couldn't form actual words, but then I managed to say, "Yeah." Or, rather, I squeaked it.  
  
Gerard just grinned at me, happy, and kissed me sweetly, trying to distract me - I guess - from his hand undoing my belt and unzipping my jeans, because I knew he could tell I was very uncertain about all of this. Ugh, Gerard was just so perfect, I couldn't believe how I was in this situation right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up Gerard's screen name, but Frank's I stole from a blog on tumblr with that name. If you have a tumblr, I suggest going and following her! :)


	11. Eleven.

Gerard was very gentle with me. He was certainly taking his time, which made me almost forget what he was doing sometimes. I was very aware, though, when I felt his fingers through my boxers. They were cold, and the fabric was thin, making me take in a breath and hold it, breaking off from Gerard. He looked at me, concerned. "You okay, Frankie?" he asked.  
  
I released my breath and took in another one, my breathing now erratic. "It's just your fingers are really fucking cold," I said shakily.  
  
Gerard chuckled. "Sorry, Frankie. There's not much I can do to help warm them up," he said, kissing my nose.  
  
I smiled. "I'll get used to it. And I'm sure they'll get warmer...being down there," I said.  
  
Gerard laughed this time and kissed me briefly. "That's the spirit," he said, and kissed me again, longer and harder. I kissed him back, but his hand did not move.  
  
At least, not for a while. I could tell he was just wasting time, and so I kissed him and bit his lip to nudge him along and tell him that he could go ahead and move on with his...act.  
  
I felt Gerard smile against my lips, and his hand flattened against me, his cold palm making me whine slightly. "Oh...Frankie...," Gerard breathed. His flat hand began to move up and down, and I loudly gasped. Gerard took his face out of my neck, and slowed his hand. "Frankie, are you okay?"  
  
Not being able to speak, I just nodded, and tried to put on a convincing face. Right before Gerard spoke, I found my ability to, and said, "Yeah, Gee, I'm fine," in a very squeaky voice.  
  
Gerard sighed, took his hand out of my pants, and sat back on his heels. He just sat there and looked at me for what felt like the longest time, and I was going to ask what he was just looking at me for, when he opened up his mouth and said, "You're not fine, Frankie."  
  
I bit my lip and looked down, defeated. I sighed and looked back up at Gerard. "Yeah," I mumbled, hanging my head again.  
  
Gerard walked on his knees in closer to me and put one of his hands on my shoulders. "Why didn't you just tell me, Frankie? Why did you try to hide it?"  
  
I sighed again, and my eyes started brimming with tears. "I didn't want to hold you back this time, Gee. I know this is something we haven't tried before, but I didn't want to hold you back. I didn't want to have you stop at any point," I explained.  
  
Gerard gently wiped the tears that had fallen down my cheeks with his thumb, and kept his hand cupping my face. He brought my face level with his and continued to wipe away the tears that kept falling. "Frankie, you're too sweet to do anything to you that makes you even the slightest bit uncomfortable. You can always tell me when something makes you uncomfortable, and I'll always stop, no matter what the situation."  
  
I smiled and leaned in to kiss Gerard gently. He was smiling widely when I pulled back. "Always?" I whispered.  
  
Gerard kissed me again lightly. "Always, love."  
  
This just made me cry even more, and I smiled and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly than I've ever hugged another human being.  
  
(***)  
  
"Frankie?" Gerard asked me later, when we were just laying together on his bed with quiet music in the background.  
  
I turned to look up at him. "Gee?"  
  
"Have you ever been in love?"  
  
I grinned and kissed his jaw. "Haven't we gone over this before?"  
  
Gerard shrugged. "I dunno. Why not go over it again?"  
  
I chuckled. "Yes, I have. What about you?"  
  
"Nope. So I don't know what it is that I feel for you."  
  
I sat up and looked him in the eye. "Gerard..."  
  
"What? What did I do?" he asked, concerned.  
  
"Don't. Please. I...I couldn't do that again."  
  
Gerard sighed and tentatively held out his arms. I wiggled across the bed and snuggled into them, and Gerard squeezed me to him, making a small smile cross my face. "Tell me about the person you were in love with." I bit my lip, hard, and squeezed Gerard's arm. "Oh." I felt Gerard's chin rest on the top of my head. "It was that boyfriend you had." I nodded, keeping a firm grip on Gerard's arm. "Okay, Frankie, ow!"  
  
I released Gerard's arm and turned over to look up at him. "Sorry, Gee."  
  
Gerard smiled lightly and pecked me on the nose. "It's okay, Frankie. The nail marks will fade in a few days. I can pass it off as playing a little rough, anyway," he said, chuckling at me when my cheeks flamed red.  
  
"Gee..."  
  
Gerard laughed and brought my face up to kiss him. "I'm kidding, Frankie! It was a joke. Y'know, it was supposed to be funny?"  
  
I smiled and kissed him again. "You're adorable, Gee. How did I get so lucky to have you?"  
  
Gerard grinned and took my hands in his. "I dunno. Maybe you're finally getting a reprieve after all the shit you've been through. Maybe God is finally pitying you, if you believe in God."  
  
I smiled even wider and kissed Gerard sweetly. "I used to believe in God, when I was a kid, but then I stopped when I witnessed my parents' murder and started to live on the streets. But now I think I might start to believe in Him again," I said.  
  
"Yeah? And why's that, Frankie?" Gerard asked.  
  
I kissed him for the third time, smiling widely when I pulled back. "Because He gave me you, Gee."  
  
For the first time since I had known him, a tear fell down Gerard's cheek.


	12. Twelve.

Gerard wasn't in school on Tuesday. I didn't see him waiting for me outside school when I got off the bus, I didn't see him at lunch, and I didn't see him anytime after school either. Mikey was in school, but when I asked him where Gerard was, he just shrugged; his face was obscured because he was intently concentrating on his lunch, so I knew he was hiding Gerard's whereabouts. It's not like it means that much to me, I mean, I didn't know him very well, but I would at least think he would tell his brother's _boyfriend_ where he is.  
  
When the final bell finally rang, I didn't waste any time getting to my locker, getting my shit, and walking straight home, not even bothering about all the people that were shooting me dirty looks from pushing past them to get out of the building.  
  
I was thankful that it wasn't pouring down rain when I was walking home, which only made trudging up the hill behind my house that much easier. When I opened the back door, my cousins were plopped in front of the television watching something that I couldn't see (and didn't want to see), but could hear. It sounded like some vulgar movie they weren't supposed to be watching (I know, I was surprised when I heard that there were rules in this house, too), so that made me assume that my aunt and uncle weren't home. Garrett and Josiah didn't even look up when I opened the back door, and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to capture their attention, so I just walked right past them and upstairs.  
  
I set my backpack down by my bedside and shuffled my shoes off by my dresser. I plopped onto my bed and pulled my computer out from under my bed. I turned it on and signed into Skype, hoping I could talk to Gerard. My phone's battery took a huge shit the other night, so I don't have a cellphone anymore, or otherwise I would have just texted Gerard and asked him where he was myself.  
  
I saw Gerard's name pop up in my Skype window, and I smiled, messaging him a hello.  
  
'the-only-way: hey Frankie!'  
  
'iero-: where were you in school today, Gee?'  
  
'the-only-way: you didn't get my text?'  
  
'iero-: my phone's battery took a huge shit last night, and I can't get it to work anymore, so I'm stuck without a phone for a while...'  
  
'the-only-way: oh, I'm sorry, Frankie, that really sucks. do you know when you're gonna get a new one?'  
  
'iero-: nope. I mean, I haven't told my aunt or uncle or anything that my phone doesn't work, so maybe if I tell them, they might offer to get me a new one, because I know how much my aunt loves to be in constant contact with me. that's the good thing about having cousins; my aunt has motherly instinct and she can't help if it rubs off on me as well.'  
  
'the-only-way: :) well that's good. so, Frankie, I have a surprise for you!'  
  
'iero-: you...do?'  
  
'the-only-way: yeah! don't worry, I think you're gonna love it. can you come over?'  
  
'iero-: my aunt and uncle aren't home, and I don't have a phone, so they won't know where I am if they get home and I'm not here...'  
  
'the-only-way: oh, okay...' There was a moment of message silence before Gerard started typing again. 'the-only-way: could I come over to your house?'  
  
I thought for a moment before I replied. My aunt and uncle always let Garrett and Josiah have friends over when they're not home, especially on the weekends, but it's Tuesday, so Gerard wouldn't stay long, and I didn't see why the same rules that applied to my cousins didn't, or couldn't, apply to me (although they usually never did because I was never in the same circumstances). 'iero-: i don't see why not...'  
  
'the-only-way: cool! so where do you live? XD'  
  
'iero-: haha, if you go back to school, and you stand on the bus platform, you'll see a small clearing in the trees. go straight through there for a little bit and when you come to a large, steep hill, my house is very most likely on top of it.'  
  
Gerard didn't respond for a moment or two. 'the-only-way: I should have mentioned that I'm shit with directions...'  
  
'iero-: oh, haha, well...just go back to school and I'll be standing at the entrance to the clearing, okay?'  
  
'the-only-way: I can do that, haha. just don't stand there in the clearing for too long, I don't want you to freeze. :)'  
  
'iero-: haha, thanks, Gee, but I think I'll be fine. I have to walk down there myself, and that takes about five minutes. how long will it take you to walk to school?'  
  
'the-only-way: about ten minutes. so if I leave in five minutes, you leave in ten minutes, okay?'  
  
'iero-: okay, Gee, see you soon :)'  
  
'the-only-way: yep! bye Frankie :)'  
  
I saw Gerard go offline and I smiled, taking a minute to wonder what the hell sort of surprise Gerard could have for me. Before I knew it, my thoughts had wandered to Gerard in general, and all of the things I thought were absolutely perfect about him, and when I had come out of my reverie, I checked the time. "Fuck!" I yelled. Gerard was probably wondering where the fuck I was, because I had sat there for fifteen minutes, and I felt even worse as I was rushing to put on my shoes, because I knew that he would have to wait another five minutes for me to get to the entrance of the clearing.  
  
As I opened the door and was about to run out, I almost literally ran into my aunt and uncle who were coming in the door. "Frank," my aunt said.  
  
"Hi," I said hurriedly.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked, noticing that I was standing at the door and I had my jacket and shoes on.  
  
"Uhm, I was actually about to go pick up my friend at the entrance to the clearing by school, because he's shit with directions and I was gonna bring him over here. Is that okay?" I explained. I avoided using the word "boyfriend" with my aunt and uncle because I know my aunt is weird about that kind of thing. If I lived with just my uncle, he wouldn't give a shit, and I could use it as freely as I wanted. But I answered mainly to my aunt; my uncle was just like her minion, so I did whatever she wanted.  
  
My aunt smiled lightly at my explanation, something I had been seeing her do a lot lately...and it freaked me out a little bit because it was something I never saw her do until recently. "That's perfectly okay, Frank. He just can't stay past eleven-thirty, okay?"  
  
I nodded vigorously, smiling. "Thanks, Aunt Cris! I'll be back in a little bit."  
  
I thought I heard her say something in response to me, but I didn't hear her as I was running too fast out the front door. I wasn't even sure if I had even closed it all the way, and I would apologize when I got back, since I wouldn't be so rushed. I would also apologize profusely to Gerard for making him wait outside the school for ten minutes in the cold.  
  
I was seriously out of breath when I reached the entrance to the clearing, and I looked up when I partially caught my breath to see Gerard walking toward me. My mouth dropped and my eyes widened when I saw him...and his hair. He was chuckling when he came up to me, and I just stood there, hunched over slightly because I hadn't completely caught my breath yet. A few minutes later, when I stood up with full breath, I said, "Holy shit, Gerard!"  
  
"Hi, Frankie," he replied, still chuckling.  
  
"Your hair!" I exclaimed.  
  
Gerard laughed. "What about it, Frankie?"  
  
I just stood there, open-mouthed, for about two or three minutes before I actually said anything. "It's...black," I said.  
  
"You're very observant, Frankie."  
  
"Oh, shush, Gee. Why did you dye your hair?"  
  
"I had the red for a long time, and I was getting tired of having to re-dye it all the time. Besides, black is very basic." He ran his fingers through my little piece of hair that hung over my eye. "And also besides, you have black hair, too, and I love it on you."  
  
I blushed lightly, shaking my hair out. "Thanks, Gee, but I hope you didn't dye your hair black because of me."  
  
He shook his head. "Of course not. I've had my hair black before, and I loved it. And while I loved the red hair, too, it got tiresome to have to bleach and then dye to get the color to stick every time the color started to fade," he said.  
  
"Okay," I said, smiling and standing on tip-toe to peck his cheek. "Let's get back to my house so we both don't freeze."  
  
Gerard smiled and took my chin in his hand and brought it close to his face. He then kissed me, long and sweet. "Let's go, then." He took my hand and squeezed it. "Lead the way, Frankie."


End file.
